Personal computers and telephones are two indispensable devices in modern life. Personal computers (PCs) and telephones both provide the ability to communicate instantaneously with others virtually anywhere in the world. In addition, PCs have revolutionized modern society with their ability to process information and data and to provide a user interaction with this information and data. PCs also have the capability to control other devices. This capability, for example, allows a user to remotely control the peripheral device through a user interface, often graphical user interfaces. Even though the PC and telephone often exist in the same room, however, there currently exist few attempts to provide a useful integration of the two devices that takes full advantage of their strengths.
There have been many attempts at integrating the telephone with the personal computer, but with little market success. These failures are due to in part to problems with the product design including, for example, poor user interface design, the need for expensive additional hardware, and unrealistic user expectations. In addition, these products do not allow a user to access a telephone from a location different from the physical location of the telephone.
One product example is the Microsoft® Phone, which was included in Microsoft Windows® 95. Microsoft® Phone is a software-only speakerphone and answering machine that allowed a user to use their computer as a speakerphone. The Microsoft® Phone, however, required that the computer always be on (which was an unrealistic expectation in the Windows® 95 era) and was an expensive added feature to Windows® 95 because it required additional hardware. Moreover, the Microsoft® Phone has limited functionality.
Another product example that attempts to integrate the telephone with the personal computer is the IBM® Realphone. The IBM® Realphone is a telephone-dialing program that is modeled after a standard business telephone. The Realphone interface is a picture of the business telephone on the display. One problem, however, is that the advantageous synergies of the telephone and the computer are not merged. For example, the interface requires a user to use an input device (such as a mouse) to press the telephone keypad on the screen and dial a desired telephone number, as one would dial a real telephone. However, this type of interface is difficult, laborious and time-consuming for a user.
There has been more product success with integrating the telephone and the computer in the call center environment. For example, the call center environment (such as customer support and telemarketing centers) often includes software applications that provide telephone information such as a phone queue display (the order of callers in a queue), a display of how many calls are waiting, and the ability to route calls to representatives. These software applications are designed for the customer service audience, however, and there is little or no attempt to meet the need of the private user or provide a user-friendly integration of the physical telephone and the software interface. For the call center audience, a priority is to increasing call throughput and quickly assigning calls in the queue, while the user experience is not. Moreover, telephony applications for the call center environment lack functionality and control features needed by an end-user that are critical for a high-quality user experience.
Therefore, there exists a need for a user interface allowing a user to seamlessly interact with a telephone using a personal computer. The user interface needed should provide a user with a rich variety of functionality and take advantage of the processing power of the computer to enhance a telephone's capabilities. Moreover, the user interface needed should provide a tight coupling between the personal computer and the telephone such that a user is unaware of any division between the two.